Discussion Questions

1. Is the U.S. Congress representative of the country? How has it changed over time? Does it trouble you that Congress does not reflect the country terribly well demographically?

2. Given that more women than men are registered to vote and turn out to vote, why are women so underrepresented in Congress? What causes this phenomenon?

3. How are the House and the Senate similar? Different? On balance, which institution would you rather serve in? Why did you select that one?

4. Why are terms for House members short? What does that mean practically for their behavior in Congress and in their districts? What kinds of political risks are there to having a term that short?

5. Why are terms for senators long? What does that mean practically for their behavior in Congress and in their districts? What kinds of political risks are there to having a term that long?

6. Why are many members of Congress former lawyers? What is it about the profession that leads to future political careers?

7. What are earmarks and why are they generally disliked by the public? In what ways are earmarks a sign of bad congressional behavior? In what ways do earmarks reflect Congress fulfilling its representational duties?

8. How convincing do you find Reps. Frost and Davis’ defense of earmark? Try to be specific in your answers.

9. What is impeachment and why is it a critical check on the power of the executive branch? In what ways are the standards unclear? How would you define “high crimes and misdemeanors”?

10. Think about 1992, “the year of the woman.” What factors lead to the surge in female representation that year? What issues or events mobilized candidates and voters? What conditions were needed for people to be successful? Now think about the present, are there any similar circumstances that might lead to additional gains for women or other previously underrepresented groups?

11. Why did most of the success in the “year of the woman” occur in the Democratic Party? Since then, there have been continued gains for women in Congress but mostly again on the Democratic side. Why is that? Why have women been more successful in the Democratic Party? Or to put it another way, why have women been less successful in the Republican Party?

12. Why is the House more formal than the Senate? How does that affect how the members behave in the House? Senate?

13. Why is much of Congress’s work actually done in committee? In what ways is that approach logical? Effective? Are there any democratic problems with doing so much work in committees?

14. Why is it hard for Congress to pass laws? Should the system be streamlined? Why or why not? Generally speaking, is it better to makes laws quickly or slowly?

15. How strong a power is the veto? Is it a sign of presidential strength or of presidential weakness? If you were the Speaker of the House, how would you react to the possibility of a veto?

16. Compare and contrast descriptive representation and substantive representation. How important are each of them to you personally? How critical is it to be represented descriptively? Substantively?